Modern, electronic vending machines often contain microprocessor based control systems, sometimes referred to as “vending machine controllers.” Such systems may be used to control, monitor and record detailed information about the state of an associated vending machine including, but not limited to, sales, cash received and paid out, errors, events, temperatures, inventory change, lock and unlock. A vending machine controller (VMC) may also control, monitor and record information from peripheral devices associated with functions such as coin acceptance, change giving, displays, credit cards and wireless transactions. The European Vending Association's Data Transfer Standard (“EVA-DTS”) and the National Automatic Merchandising Association's (NAMA) Multi-Drop Bus/Internal Communications Protocol (MDB/ICP or MDB) are widely used formats for collecting, recording, transmitting and auditing data associated with vending machines.
Advances in electronics are now enabling the use of computer controls and data acquisition systems within each vending machine. Some of the latest vending machines make it possible for vending operators to download data and information associated with sales, inventory, and equipment status on-site onto portable computers or transmit vending machine data and information to a central location such as a network operations center. Many vending machines include vending machine controllers based on the International Multi-drop Bus Interface Standards developed by the National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA).
Advances in electronics have also enabled the use of controls and data acquisition systems in other types of field assets, including without limitation service vehicles, snack machines, beverage machines, automatic teller machines (ATMs), postage stamp dispensers, arcade machines, slot machines, laundry machines and car wash equipment, in addition to vending machines.
However, there are many known disadvantages to such control and data acquisition systems in field assets. For example, in many control and data systems in which it is desired to control a plurality of field assets, it may be advantageous from a cost perspective that different types of communications media and/or protocols be used on field assets located at a particular site. However, building a control and data acquisition system that supports different communication transports may lead to complexity and difficulty in maintaining such a system, especially for field asset service technicians that may not be knowledgeable regarding network management.